US3899390A - Measuring apparatus for the coolant outlet temperature in nuclear-reactor fuel elements - Google Patents

Measuring apparatus for the coolant outlet temperature in nuclear-reactor fuel elements Download PDF

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Publication number
US3899390A
US3899390A US261656A US26165672A US3899390A US 3899390 A US3899390 A US 3899390A US 261656 A US261656 A US 261656A US 26165672 A US26165672 A US 26165672A US 3899390 A US3899390 A US 3899390A
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United States
Prior art keywords
head
guide tube
coolant
fuel
attachment
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Expired - Lifetime
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US261656A
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English (en)
Inventor
Klaus-Wilhelm Klein
Peter Rau
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Siemens AG
Siemens Corp
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Siemens Corp
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
    • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
    • G21C17/00—Monitoring; Testing ; Maintaining
    • G21C17/10—Structural combination of fuel element, control rod, reactor core, or moderator structure with sensitive instruments, e.g. for measuring radioactivity, strain
    • G21C17/102—Structural combination of fuel element, control rod, reactor core, or moderator structure with sensitive instruments, e.g. for measuring radioactivity, strain the sensitive element being part of a fuel element or a fuel assembly
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E30/00—Energy generation of nuclear origin
    • Y02E30/30—Nuclear fission reactors

Definitions

  • the present invention is concerned with an apparatus for measuring the coolant outlet temperature in the fuel and breeder elements of nuclear reactors, and more particularly of fast gas-cooled nuclear reactors.
  • this object is achieved by a guide tube arranged in the central zone of the fuel element for receiving a previously known temperature sensor, which is inserted through a corresponding tubular member within the attachment mechanism of the fuel element. Further the device can also be replaced during the operation of the reactor. Thermocouples may be used'as the temperature sensors as well as optical temperature measurement through the straight guide tube. It is, of course, possible to introduce several thermocouples through this guide tube and to evaluate their signals by the well-known two-out-of-three principle.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view through a core reactor embodying an installation of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the arrangement of the temperature measuring apparatus with its associated supporting devices for an individual fuel element embodying the invention.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a fuel element with the temperature sensor embodying the invention arranged therein.
  • the nuclear reactor chosen to illustrate the present invention is housed in a steel-concrete pressure tank 4 and consists of the reactor core 3 and the breeder mantle 3a.
  • the reactor fuel elements 31 are suspended from support plate 1 with their lower ends free so that the hot coolant stream, the temperature of which is to be measured, can flow unobstructed out of the lower portion thereof.
  • the steel-concrete tank 4 is closed by means of cover 41, through which the support devices of the individual fuel elements pass. Above cover 41 are located attachment members 2 for the fuel elements as well as the feedthroughs for the temperature measuring devices of each individual fuel element.
  • heat exchangers 5 are grouped in the normal manner around the nuclear reactor. These heat exchangers 5 serve, for example, to generate steam for the turbines or for heating the working gas for the gas turbines.
  • the cooling medium for reactor core 3 flows from the top downward through the fuel elements 31 in the direction of the arrow as indicated. This, for example, may be helium gas.
  • the blowers required for the circulation of the gas are not shown for the sake of simplicity.
  • a replacement device 42 is provided in the lower part of the reactor pressure tank 4. As the construction of this device is of no importance to the present invention, it is not shown in detail.
  • This coupling 71 can be formed from known connectors, such as ratchets or bayonet locks, which operate in conjunction with corresponding parts in the fuel element support linkage 7 disposed between the attachment device 2 and the fuel element support plate 1.
  • FIG. 2 shows in schematic form the mutual relation of the above-mentioned parts.
  • each fuel element 31 is equipped with a choke 8 on the coolant entrance side within the head 34 of each fuel element 31.
  • the choke 8 is adjustable through the support linkage 7 and is adjusted as a function of the measured outlet temperatures by means of the motorized drives provided in the fuel element attachment device 2.
  • the fuel elements 31 illustrated in this exemplary embodiment are of hexagonal cross-section, which permits the closest possible packing of the fuel rods within the reactor core. In principle, however, other cross-sectional shapes are also possible.
  • FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view through a fuel element 31 of this type having a multiplicity of parallel, adjacent individual fuel rods 32 arranged within the hexagonal box 9. These are fixed in their spatial configuration in the normal manner by spacers and are suspended at rod support plate 91.
  • the head 34 of the fuel element 31 is connected to the coupling 71 and the attachment device or support linkage 7.
  • the previously mentioned adjustable choke 8, can be adjusted, for example, by an externally operable spindle to thereby change the cross-sectional area of the coolant entrance.
  • a guide tube 33 is located for guiding the thermocouples through the fuel element.
  • the guide tube 33 is perforated at its lower end at the point 330 to permit the coolant to directly contact the measuring head 60 of the thermocouple mechanism.
  • the head 34 of the fuel element is sealed against the support plate by piston rings 36 and is conically expandable in the interior 35, so that the thermocouple tube 6, which can be inserted through the tubular channel in the attachment device, can be introduced with little resistance into the guide tube 33.
  • the leads to one or several thenno elements are located and are connected at the lower end 6a of this tube with the latter thermo elements to form the temperature sensor.
  • thermocouple tube 6 passes through the interior of the fuel element support rod 7 as well as the coupling and choke adjustment linkage.
  • the fuel element attachment devices which are enclosed in a pressure-tight manner in tube 21, a pressure-tight connection is established with the measuring cables 62 leading to the outside, A pressuretight and gas-tight terminal is provided by cap 22, which provides additional safety against the possibility that cooling gas might escape through the seal of the thermocouple tube 6 within the housing 21.
  • thermocouple tubes 6 are made flexible, it would also be possible to use them in guide canals that are not straight, in the event that the reactor design makes this necessary.
  • a flexible design of the thermocouple tubes 6 would also be advantageous for easier transportation, for example, on drums, as well as in reducing the working space in the reactor building.
  • the temperature measuring device i.e., the thermocouple tube 6
  • the thermocouple tube 6 is first withdrawn, and can be re-used at the same installation site after the new fuel element is inserted.
  • mount the connections of the thermocouples with the measuring lines external to the reactor. This may be accomplished, for instance, by using terminals or jacks, above the attachment device 2 at point 61 to thereby make them accessible at anytime during the operation of the reactor.
  • a nuclear reactor having a fluid pressure chamber in which a fuel element is suspended by a tubular attachment rod extending from the outside of said chamber downwardly to its inside, said element having an attachment head to which the lower end of said rod is attached and said head having a passage extending downwardly therethrough and aligned with the inside of said rod, and from which head an elongated enclosure depends and wherein spaced below said head and within said enclosure a fuel rod support plate is positioned from which a multiplicity of fuel rods depend, said head forming a coolant inlet for said enclosure and the enclosures bottom end being open for downward flow of coolant therethrough; a guide tube having an inside aligned with the lower end of said heads passage and depending from said head through said support plate and said fuel rods to below the lower ends of the fuel rods, said guide tube having a bottom end positioned within said downward flow of coolant, means for transmitting information about said coolant at said guide tubes bottom end extending upwardly through said guide tube and said attachment head and said attachment rod to the outside of said fluid pressure chamber which transmit
  • said information transmitting means is an electrically responsive element mounted by a conductor tube extending from said bottom end of the guide tube upwardly through said guide tube and said attachment head and said attachment rod to the outside of said fluid pressure chamber, said guide tubes bottom end being perforated to give said downward flow of coolant access to said electrically responsive element.
  • the reactor of claim 1 having a flow-control choke for said coolant inlet and which is provided with an adjustment means through which said passage extends.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
  • Monitoring And Testing Of Nuclear Reactors (AREA)
US261656A 1971-06-14 1972-06-12 Measuring apparatus for the coolant outlet temperature in nuclear-reactor fuel elements Expired - Lifetime US3899390A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE2129438A DE2129438C3 (de) 1971-06-14 1971-06-14 Einrichtung zur Messung der Kühlmittelaustrittstemperatur bei Brennelementen schneller Kernreaktoren

Publications (1)

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US3899390A true US3899390A (en) 1975-08-12

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US (1) US3899390A (enExample)
BE (1) BE784849A (enExample)
DE (1) DE2129438C3 (enExample)
FR (1) FR2141819B1 (enExample)
GB (1) GB1391826A (enExample)

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4046632A (en) * 1974-04-10 1977-09-06 Kraftwerk Union Aktiengesellschaft Nuclear reactor pressure vessel, multiple measuring line, bushing assembly
US4132115A (en) * 1976-04-30 1979-01-02 Interatom, Internationale Atomreaktorbau Gmbh Device for producing conditions in a flowing medium, especially in a nuclear reactor, permitting measurement of a representative temperature
US4416851A (en) * 1976-10-18 1983-11-22 United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Nuclear fuel for liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors
US4701297A (en) * 1984-09-26 1987-10-20 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Apparatus and method for removing thermocouples from nuclear reactor vessel
US5078957A (en) * 1990-11-26 1992-01-07 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Incore instrumentation system for a pressurized water reactor
US5225150A (en) * 1992-06-23 1993-07-06 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Integrated head package for top mounted nuclear instrumentation
US5305357A (en) * 1992-06-24 1994-04-19 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Low activated incore instrument
WO2014028845A1 (en) * 2012-08-16 2014-02-20 The Penn State Research Foundation Thermoacoustic enhancements for nuclear fuel-rods and other high temperature applications
WO2014175939A1 (en) * 2013-04-24 2014-10-30 Westinghouse Electric Company Llc Thermo-acoustic nuclear power distribution measurement assembly
CN107195346A (zh) * 2017-05-22 2017-09-22 四川大学 一种推棒力测量装置
CN107403648A (zh) * 2017-07-25 2017-11-28 中国原子能科学研究院 一种用于非能动组件内部节流的装置

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4313792A (en) * 1979-06-13 1982-02-02 Scandpower, Inc. Miniature gamma thermometer slideable through bore for measuring linear heat generation rate
DE3121378A1 (de) * 1981-05-29 1983-02-03 Hochtemperatur-Reaktorbau GmbH, 5000 Köln Messvorrichtung fuer die kaltgastemperatur in einem kernreaktor
DE3140910A1 (de) * 1981-10-15 1983-05-05 Hochtemperatur-Reaktorbau GmbH, 5000 Köln Vorrichtung zur messung der heissgas-temperatur unter dem dampferzeuger eines hochtemperatur-kernreaktors
EP2012103A1 (de) * 2007-07-05 2009-01-07 WIKA Alexander Wiegand GmbH & Co.KG Explosionsgeschütztes Oberflächenthermometer

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3036965A (en) * 1956-10-06 1962-05-29 Siemens Ag Nuclear reactor plant for power generation
US3060111A (en) * 1959-08-14 1962-10-23 Sherman Jerome Nuclear reactor
US3151030A (en) * 1957-11-12 1964-09-29 Babcock & Wilcox Ltd Nuclear power plant heat exchanger control
US3234100A (en) * 1961-05-08 1966-02-08 Gen Electric Film boiling indicator
US3354040A (en) * 1964-08-28 1967-11-21 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Nuclear reactor instrumentation and servicing arrangement
US3365366A (en) * 1965-02-16 1968-01-23 English Electric Co Ltd Coolant circulation system for a nuclear reactor
US3510396A (en) * 1965-02-17 1970-05-05 Licentia Gmbh Flow control arrangement in a nuclear reactor

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3036965A (en) * 1956-10-06 1962-05-29 Siemens Ag Nuclear reactor plant for power generation
US3151030A (en) * 1957-11-12 1964-09-29 Babcock & Wilcox Ltd Nuclear power plant heat exchanger control
US3060111A (en) * 1959-08-14 1962-10-23 Sherman Jerome Nuclear reactor
US3234100A (en) * 1961-05-08 1966-02-08 Gen Electric Film boiling indicator
US3354040A (en) * 1964-08-28 1967-11-21 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Nuclear reactor instrumentation and servicing arrangement
US3365366A (en) * 1965-02-16 1968-01-23 English Electric Co Ltd Coolant circulation system for a nuclear reactor
US3510396A (en) * 1965-02-17 1970-05-05 Licentia Gmbh Flow control arrangement in a nuclear reactor

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4046632A (en) * 1974-04-10 1977-09-06 Kraftwerk Union Aktiengesellschaft Nuclear reactor pressure vessel, multiple measuring line, bushing assembly
US4132115A (en) * 1976-04-30 1979-01-02 Interatom, Internationale Atomreaktorbau Gmbh Device for producing conditions in a flowing medium, especially in a nuclear reactor, permitting measurement of a representative temperature
US4416851A (en) * 1976-10-18 1983-11-22 United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Nuclear fuel for liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors
US4701297A (en) * 1984-09-26 1987-10-20 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Apparatus and method for removing thermocouples from nuclear reactor vessel
US5078957A (en) * 1990-11-26 1992-01-07 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Incore instrumentation system for a pressurized water reactor
US5225150A (en) * 1992-06-23 1993-07-06 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Integrated head package for top mounted nuclear instrumentation
US5305357A (en) * 1992-06-24 1994-04-19 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Low activated incore instrument
WO2014028845A1 (en) * 2012-08-16 2014-02-20 The Penn State Research Foundation Thermoacoustic enhancements for nuclear fuel-rods and other high temperature applications
US9646723B2 (en) 2012-08-16 2017-05-09 The Penn State Research Foundation Thermoacoustic enhancements for nuclear fuel rods and other high temperature applications
US10283225B2 (en) 2012-08-16 2019-05-07 The Penn State Research Foundation Thermoacoustic enhancements for nuclear fuel rods
WO2014175939A1 (en) * 2013-04-24 2014-10-30 Westinghouse Electric Company Llc Thermo-acoustic nuclear power distribution measurement assembly
CN107195346A (zh) * 2017-05-22 2017-09-22 四川大学 一种推棒力测量装置
CN107195346B (zh) * 2017-05-22 2019-06-07 四川大学 一种推棒力测量装置
CN107403648A (zh) * 2017-07-25 2017-11-28 中国原子能科学研究院 一种用于非能动组件内部节流的装置
CN107403648B (zh) * 2017-07-25 2019-06-14 中国原子能科学研究院 一种用于非能动组件内部节流的装置

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2129438C3 (de) 1980-12-18
FR2141819B1 (enExample) 1977-12-23
FR2141819A1 (enExample) 1973-01-26
BE784849A (fr) 1972-12-14
DE2129438A1 (de) 1972-12-21
DE2129438B2 (de) 1980-04-30
GB1391826A (en) 1975-04-23

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